USD 23 Million Grant to Guinea - Access to Electricity for 60,000 Rural People

Tunis, 27 January 2011 – The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional window of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group, approved on 21 January 2011, a USD 23-million grant to finance a rural electrification project in Guinea. The project will enable 60,000 rural people in 31 communities to access electric power along the national interconnected grid.

The project will help raise the rural electrification rate from 3% in 2009 to 15% in 2015 and reduce the rate of energy loss on the distribution network from 48% in 2009 to 20% in 2015.

Households, the national power company (Electricité de Guinée), small artisans and traders, the local administration, SMEs/SMIs in the target communities and workers who will be recruited during its implementation, will benefit from the project.

The project will help improve the people’s living and working conditions. It will provide opportunities for the creation and development of income-generating activities. The communities covered by the project are located in the Basse and Moyenne Guinée regions, both of which have significant economic potential including asphalted roads.

Part of the project includes two studies essential for preparing future energy sector operations in Guinea by the AfDB Group and other donors.

The preparation of the rural electrification master plan study – on which the project design was based – was funded and monitored by the AfDB Group.